'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'
Jeremiah 29:11-13

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We thank the Lord for His blessings in our lives and for always taking care of us!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

GO HEELS!

Well, to celebrate the beginning of Tarheel basketball, Caroline had to wear her Tarheel cheerleading outfit we found at Target just before we moved. (We definitely wouldn't find one of those here!) She wore it to church last night, which was a big hit! The older ladies really loved her pleated skirt, while the men loved she was a basketball fan. :) I was only going to post one of the pictures, but each picture was cute in its own way.

This last picture I posted so you could see Caroline's chubby legs! It made me laugh, but it really shows them well!

We are thankful for Caroline's life and wanted to celebrate her 6 months with you by putting up a few pictures from the day for you to enjoy! She is such a sweetheart and had a busy day running errands with me, but I got a few good pictures while we were home. Ryan dressed her that morning, and specifically put her in the polka dots....I think they turned out great!

She loves playing in her exercauser, playing with her toes, and eating time! :) As you can see from the one picture in the high chair, she started leaning over to grab her toes! On Tuesday, she grabbed her toes while on her changing table and actually got them all the way in her mouth! What flexibility!

We are all doing well. Work is going well for Ryan and the church has really been kind to us. They really love Caroline and she never lacks for attention there. We are always told what a good baby she is, and how they never see her cry!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

On Wednesday night I was talking with a lady at church who was telling me that she was going to take some things to a craft fair this weekend. It was her first time to try to sell the clothes and hair bows she had made, but she wanted to see if it would be a big sell or not. Well, in talking with her, she mentioned my burp rags and said that I should send some with her and she would try to sell them! Well, I was kind of excited about that, but figured that I should work on unpacking, etc. Ryan encouraged me to do it, so I made 12 on Thursday night and made some tag toys (which I had not made before) on Friday morning. I took a few pictures, so click above if you want to see them! Ryan even named my "business" and designed some business cards! So, we will see today if anyone will buy them or not. We see the same things in stores for $15 or more! Anyone want to place an order? :)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Caroline is such a cutie and I thought I would share this picture of her that I took earlier this afternoon. She was hanging out in her Bumbo seat while I was trying to finish unpacking/putting away things in her room. (As you can see from the background of the picture, it is not done yet!) We have had a good day, starting with a quick trip to Publix this morning, then my first trip to the Senoia Post Office. Once again, everyone is so nice everywhere we go...just like Wake Forest!

Ryan has had a good week so far also, with a Deacon's meeting last night. I also had a WMU (Women's Missionary Union, for those who don't know) that Caroline had to attend with me. It started with eating (which seems to be a common occurence here!), then a devotion, then planning for the next few months! My calendar is already filling up, but with things that I will enjoy. I just have to figure out what I can and can't do with Caroline by my side! All the women loved on Caroline and thought she was so sweet. She gave them back the sweetest smile that only brought more "oohing" and "ahhing".

Some of you know that I was on Weight Watchers and lost 35 pounds prior to getting pregnant with Caroline. Well, I have been trying to be back on it the past month or so, but it has been difficult with moving, traveling, and homemade food at church! So, I share this, because God contiues to provide, as there is a big Weight Watchers place about 10 minutes or so away, next to Publix and Chick-fil-a! I will venture to my first meeting there tomorrow morning. I have been working hard, but the encouragement will be good.

Well, dinner is in the oven, Caroline is playing beside me, and I am ready to eat! :) We hope you are all well!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Firsts

These past few days have been full of lots of "firsts"! First, November 1st (first) was Ryan's first day of work at the church. He had a good day, spent in a meeting and getting his office somewhat situated. It was also the first day that I had at home with Ryan working during the day! (Remember, he worked nights before, so it was very different.) On Friday (Ryan's first day off) and Saturday, we got to visit with Jeff and Christy and the kids as they were in Stone Mountain for the weekend. We met them at a place called Bread Beckers in Woodstock, then we went to First Baptist Woodstock for the first time. We went there because someone at Chickfila said they had a great public park for the kids! Caroline and Connor even swung on the swings. (It was Caroline's first time in a swing like this!)It was the coolest church park I have ever seen...what a great ministry to the community families. Ryan walked into the church and said it was massive. Even had escalators in it! On Saturday, we had our first day visiting Atlanta as Georgia residents! We met Jeff and Christy and the kids at The Varsity, then went to IKEA for the first time. It was an awesome store with lots of cool stuff...at good prices too! Today was Ryan's first Sunday with the youth. He did a great job and the youth really seemed to enjoy him, too. Caroline took a nap in the crib at the nursery today, too, for the first time ever! She usually plays and plays all morning. This time, however, she was the only baby, so she must have been worn out from all the attention! After church we ate at the local "Country Buffet" with half the other residents of Senoia for the first time. Ryan figured today was as good a day as any to check it out!So, anyway, that is our weekend of firsts. I am sure most of you find some of our firsts pretty cheesy (as we did), but we thought it would make a fun topic on here!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Return to Senoia, Caroline Jumping, and a Pounding

After a wonderful visit to Florida to see family, Ryan, Caroline, and I have returned to our house full of boxes! We returned home on Tuesday night and have been working hard to get the house situated. We are making progress, but still have so far to go! We got a surprise visit from Jeff(my older brother), Christy, Caleb, Claire, and Connor yesterday afternoon! We knew we were going to see them in Atlanta sometime over the weekend, but were delighted to have them visit us at our new home. Caleb loved our big backyard, where we discovered we have some BIG red ant hills, and the rest of the family seemed to like our new place, despite the boxes and unfinished look all around. We look forward to seeing them again tomorrow!

Last night we ventured out to our first church event at First Baptist Senoia. (Caroline dressed as a banana!) We went to the fall festival where we were able to meet and mingle with some of the church families. We talked with a few youth and some couples we had previously met. It is amazing how God works, as I met some stay at home moms, one with a son only a few months older than Caroline. It is her third child, with two older that she homeschools. Anyway, I was just excited to have met some women who are at home like me, that I have the potential to build friendships with! Thank you, Lord! What is really cool, is that this one lady graduated from UCF, and even went to Parkway in Orlando while she was attending college! To all my UCF/Orlando friends, isn't that wild? It is such a small world, and God works in such awesome ways to bring that connection here to Senoia. I will continue to be praying for us to build friendships and to give God the glory for it all. Last night was the first step of many in the process, but it was encouraging!

While at the church, we were given a "Pounding" from the church family. For those of you who don't know, a pounding is where they give you non-perishables to fill your pantry! (pound of sugar, pound of flour, etc.) It was such a blessing to us and we are so grateful for the kindness of the church family we are now a part of. Everyone was so kind!

Well, while in Florida Caroline got to use a "jumping thing" (as I called it) when we were in Panama City. She loved it! So, while in Melbourne we found one on sale on Craigs List. We got her one, and have included a video on here of her jumping in it! She really enjoys it. Of course, as soon as I uploaded the video, she really got moving in it, which would have made a better video! I am sure the video will be boring to anyone but me, and maybe the grandparents, but ths proud mom had to post it anyway! Ok, as soon as I said we included the video, it didn't work! So...here are some pictures instead! Maybe we can get a video up soon!